What Is Sales Enablement? Definition, Jobs, and Strategy

What is sales enablement?

A sales enablement strategy provides salespeople with the resources they need to engage customers throughout the buying process. Sales enablement resources vary across organizations and industries. Here are some general types of sales enablement resources:

• Marketing content salespeople can use to inspire and educate customers 

• Data from market and industry research to inform salespeople about the latest trends 

• Training to empower salespeople with the right skills 

• Access to technology solutions, such as a customer relationship management (CRM) system streamline sales processes 

Some of the principles that guide sales enablement include:

• Usability: Ensuring resources are easy to find and apply to sales situations 

• Measurability: Ensuring teams track meaningful metrics, such as the average sales cycle length, average deal size, and total revenue

• Customer focus: Designing sales enablement resources to deliver what customers want

Why is sales enablement important? 

Along with a clear sales enablement definition, it’s important to know the benefits of sales enablement. Here's how having a clear sales enablement strategy can improve your business or sales operation: 

Providing customers with a human touch

Today's customers are more empowered and hold companies to higher standards than in the past. In fact, according to Salesforce’s 2022 survey of over 13,000 consumers, 88 per cent of respondents said that trusting companies is a priority, especially in times of change such as the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. The study says that consumers want companies to be honest, transparent, interested in customers’ well-being, and committed to making the world more just and sustainable. 

This is where sales enablement can help. Sales teams can engage customers more effectively when they have the tools to educate customers on a company’s products, services, and values and communicate how the company contributes to a better world.

Improving win rates

Industry expert Sales Enablement PRO’s 2023 State of Sales Enablement Report revealed that a consistent, data-driven sales enablement strategy can lead to higher win rates. Surveyed respondents who used sales enablement had an average win rate of 39 per cent, while those without sales enablement practices had an average win rate of 30 per cent [2].

Streamlining sales collateral

Sales enablement also streamlines collateral, such as product sheets, case studies, success stories, testimonials, sales scripts, demo video, and product tours, so sales reps can avoid time-consuming searches for materials or creating content from scratch. It provides visibility for multiple teams within an organization, including sales, marketing, content creation, and customer service, allowing teams to coordinate their strategies and tactics around the organization’s sales goals. 

Attracting top talent

A sales enablement strategy can help companies attract top sales talent, by signaling to job candidates that:

• Sales leaders are committed to the success of their teams

• Sales reps can maximize their earning potential

• There is a positive and supportive workplace culture in place

Sales enablement jobs

In general, sales enablement professionals enter this field with sales or sales operations, marketing, business, or human resources experience and are responsible for enhancing the relationship between sales and marketing teams, training sales staff, and furnishing marketing content for sales staff. 

Educational requirements may vary between positions. A bachelor’s degree or master's degree may be a preferred credential for some positions, but some employers may be more interested in specific skills and experience.  

While you may already know the industry or role you want, exploring the range of possibilities in sales enablement to make an informed career decision is a good idea. 

A May 2024 search on LinkedIn for “sales enablement” jobs in Canada yielded over 465 listings in industries such as banking, finance, retail, education, CRM, software development, IT, and recruiting [3]. Job titles include: 

• Sales enablement specialist 

• Sales enablement coordinator

• Sales enablement manager   

• Director of sales enablement 

• Bilingual sales enablement representative 

• Growth marketing manager, sales enablement 

• Sales enablement program specialist 

• Manager of sales enablement, education, and learning strategy

LinkedIn also lists jobs that don’t include “sales enablement” in the job title but that list sales enablement in the job description as a task, responsibility, or required skill set. These jobs include: 

• Sales development representative

• Business development representative 

• Enterprise account executive 

• Senior sales representative 

• Inside sales representative

• Sales trainer  

• Demand generation lead 

• Global lead, cloud business channel 

• Global channel specialist 

You may also draw upon prior experience in business leadership, marketing, or customer support to pursue a career in sales enablement.  

As you review job openings in sales enablement, highlight roles that align with your career goals. Then, search for general career information on these roles, including the average salary, common tasks, and the skills and qualifications required, and compare them with job listings.   

Below we’ve put together two examples of sales enablement jobs using information from Glassdoor, which you can use to guide your research process. 

Sales enablement manager

• The average sales enablement manager salary in Canada is $91,249 [4]. 

• Professionals in this role recruit, train, and lead sales teams, help drive sales targets, provide sales forecasts, and manage team performance.  

• Skills and qualifications for this role typically include sales experience; a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field; an understanding of CRM systems; and oral and written communication skills. 

Sales trainer

• The average sales trainer salary in Canada is $62,469 [5].

• Professionals in this role develop sales training programs based on an organization’s key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals; create educational content to support the sales training program; and build relationships with customers, stakeholders, and other teams. 

• Skills and qualifications for this role generally include a bachelor’s degree, sales background, experience creating educational material, and leadership and communication skills. 

Steps to build your sales enablement strategy

Devising a sales enablement strategy is a good practice and an important skill for anyone in sales, whether you’re a business owner looking to empower your team or a job seeker looking for a sales enablement position. Use the steps below to build a sales enablement strategy. 

1. Gather feedback from your sales team. 

Gathering feedback is an important step for your sales enablement strategy. Doing so empowers your sales team to reflect on their firsthand customer interactions and share important insights that can guide the strategy.  

Some questions you can ask include: 

• “What do salespeople experience?” 

• “What challenges do they face?” 

• “What resources would help them engage customers more effectively? “

2. Set sales enablement goals. 

Ground your strategy in clear, data-driven sales enablement goals. Work with your team to establish what to accomplish in a specific period. Here are two examples: 

• Close 25 per cent more sales every month.

• Acquire 30 per cent more new accounts In Q3 than in Q2.  

3. Define sales enablement for all roles. 

Your next step is to list all the roles that comprise your sales team, such as sales enablement manager, inside sales representative, sales associate, and sales development representative, and define what sales enablement looks like for each role. 

Some questions to help in this step include: 

• “What is each role responsible for?” 

• “What resources, skills, and training does each need to succeed? “

For example, a sales representative on your team may benefit from buyer persona profiles, effective selling courses, and resources for selling on different social media platforms. 

4. Update your sales playbook. 

A sales playbook is a written document—often a combination of text and graphics—an organization’s sales team uses to determine its unique sales approaches. A good sales playbook will determine what team members should do in different situations.  

Compose an updated version of your sales playbook using the feedback you’ve gathered, the goals you’ve identified, and the description of what sales enablement looks like for each team member. Distribute to everyone on the team. 

5. Choose sales enablement software.

The right sales enablement software can help to streamline processes, including managing a library of marketing content, guiding reps through new strategies, and analyzing sales performance. 

Here are three sales enablement tools to investigate:

• Highspot: Offers sales content management, sales playbook software, digital salesrooms, onboarding and training programs, and more.

• Showpad: Offers centralized content and sales tools, 3D product demos and 360-degree immersive showrooms, AI-powered sales coaching, and more.

• Seismic: Offers content personalization and AI content generation, training for reps, analytics, CRM integration, and more.

6. Measure results and customer impact. 

Measuring sales enablement efforts regularly helps keep your sales playbook updated and ensures your sales team meets goals. 

Use your sales enablement software to track such results as:

• Content that best engages customers

• Specific tactics reps are using to close sales

• Biggest revenue drivers 

Watch this video from the HubSpot Sales Representative Professional Certificate to learn more about developing a sales enablement strategy.

Best practices and key takeaways 

Remember: Benefits of a robust sales enablement strategy include streamlined content, skilled and prepared sales teams, and effective buyer engagement.  

Tailor sales processes to the buyer’s journey. 

Align approaches and methods to the different stages of the buyer's journey (awareness, consideration, and decision), so that you meet the needs of prospects at each stage.

Create unique content for each stage of the buyer’s journey.

Content, including presentation slide decks, scripts, brochures, and other resources, should provide customers with the information they need, wherever they are in the buying process.

House all resources in a central location for easy access. 

Centralizing resources in a sales enablement platform enhances efficiency and collaboration among your sales team. Organize materials so that your team can find what they need quickly, improving productivity and consistency in their interactions with prospects and clients.

Design your sales strategy with the end goals in mind.  

Whether it's increasing revenue, expanding into new markets, or boosting customer satisfaction, your sales strategy should be structured to achieve these specific outcomes. For example, if your goal is to increase revenue, your sales strategy might include objectives such as achieving a certain percentage increase in sales volume or average deal size within a period of time.

Build sales skills with Coursera.

Online courses can be a great way to learn more about sales techniques and career opportunities.

Explore sales enablement, lead generation, sales reporting, and more in Hubspot Academy's Strategic Customer Relationship Management & Sales Technique Specialization. There, you'll learn how to develop a market-driven sales enablement strategy, generate and manage leads with the Sales Hub tools, and organize, visualize, and report on sales data with HubSpot’s CRM.